Wax fire destroys Oz soundstage

A so-called controlled fire sequence on the set of HouseOf Wax went badly wrong on Saturday evening (June 27), sparking a blazethat destroyed one of the eight soundstages at Queensland's Warner RoadshowStudios.

Aspokesperson for the film's publicist, Denis Davidson Associates, said thatthree sets and all the camera and sound equipment were destroyed but luckilyno-one was hurt thanks to the safety officer quickly ordering everyone toevacuate. Fire officers were on set at the time and their number grew to about50 at the height of the inferno.

The Dark Castle Entertainment/Silver Pictures remake of the1953 horror flick of the same name for Warner Bros is near the end of principalphotography, having gone into production on May 3. It will lose a few days ofshooting and have to rebuild all the lost sets but filming is expected toresume on Thursday.

Thefire was so spectacular that roadblocks had to be set up around the studios tohold back sightseers and it was featured on most television news services aroundthe country. The film stars Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian VanHolt and American hotel heiress Paris Hilton.

House Of Wax is being directed by JaumeCollet-Serra from a script by Chad and Carey Hayes. The producers are JoelSilver, Robert Zemeckis and Susan Levin, and the executive producers areHerbert W Gains, Steve Richards, Bruce Berman.

Subscribe to Screen International

Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry. Subscribe now for monthly editions, awards season weeklies, access to the Screen International archive and supplements including Stars of Tomorrow and World of Locations.